Book Review: Must Reads For Youth

Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (16+)

In this 1872 romanticised Gothic novella, Dr Hesselius – a self-proclaimed “metaphysical” doctor – delivers the paranormal vampiric story of Carmilla via his casebook: documentation of the world’s most mysterious and supernatural occurrences.

As such, Carmilla is one of the earliest works in vampire fiction and a key influence on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, which was published 25 years later.

Carmilla, set in Styria, Austria, focuses on a case recounted by an English woman, Laura, who experienced a chilling otherworldly encounter first-hand eight years earlier. The tale begins in her isolated schloss (the Austrian equivalent of a chateau or castle), where she is only accompanied by her widowed father and two governesses and often feels intense loneliness.

She is finally relieved of this dissatisfaction when Carmilla, a girl her age is stranded in her area and comes to stay in her chateau until she finds her mother. This seemingly fateful event sparks the utmost joy in Laura as they grow closer and become close companions.

However, although Laura enjoys Carmilla’s company, she cannot shake the striking unease that exists alongside this adoration. This is particularly because Carmilla appeared in her dreams when she was six and has haunted her ever since. Such sentiments escalate into simultaneous feelings of repulsion and captivation as they spend more time together, further confusing the reader whether Carmilla is friend or foe.

Tensions are heightened because many citizens have been attacked and killed recently by supernatural forces elsewhere in Styria. This string of deaths and the arrival of Laura’s new friend coincide with the beginning of her illness: Laura is consistently tormented by alarming dreams, bizarre sensations, and a secretive new housemate that is seen prowling the grounds at strange hours with no explanation at all. All of these frightful occurrences beg the question: is Laura really safe in her schloss and its bubble of security?

As Carmilla’s behaviour becomes more suspicious, Laura’s paradoxical fondness and fear for her surge: it becomes increasingly unclear as to who the reader should be frightened of – if there is any immediate danger at all.

What I found most curious in this mystifying novella is Laura’s perception and understanding of love. She seems to have absorbed Carmilla’s constant excessive and twisted ramblings of love, so ignores all rationality and defends her attachment to Carmilla as true even if it is excessive and leading to destruction. Destruction of who? Read to find out!

The perturbing foreshadowing of Carmilla’s epic vampiric showdown is expertly married to the worsening of Laura’s sickness and it forces the reader to await the solution (that will hopefully end Laura’s constant suffering) with bated breath.

Carmilla is the final part of Le Fanu’s series, In a Glass Darkly, and was preceded by four works: Green Tea, The Familiar, Mr Justice Harbottle, and The Room in the Dragon Volant. All five of these works are a part of Dr Hesselius’s fictional casebook of the world’s most terrifying and unprecedented events. If you were as absorbed by the story of the first female vampire as I was, I’d recommend the rest of In a Glass Darkly as well.

On a final note, I would also like to hear your thoughts on my column. For any comments on Carmilla or to simply to give me a book recommendation of whatever you’re reading at the moment, contact me at bookspacebda@gmail.com to tell me all about it!